Social Media and Marketing

Twitter and your business

Twitter is a tool that many recruiters and job seekers are using to connect far beyond what they have been able to do on Facebook or LinkedIn and in almost real time. If you are not familiar with twitter you can read a twitter getting started guide from CNET here. There are many good articles written about how twitter can have an impact on your business when used correctly.

Think of twitter as text messaging for the web but rather than 1:1 like your phone twitter is one to many. You open an account and follow people of like interests and people can follow you. What you’ll find is it’s a great way to get a wealth of information fast. I (Duncan the_hrguy) am connected to many HR professionals and I am able to learn about webinars, conferences and topics of interest by being connected to this group that otherwise I never would of known about. It’s also a great way to connect with candidates or prospective employers. When you sign up for an account follow the CEO of Zappos.com (online shoe retailer). He has (as of this posting) 302,965 people following him. You will see how he is using twitter to stay connected to his loyal followers.

Something to consider as you ‘friend’ people is what is the benefit of connecting. Last week we were looking for a white paper on social media and recruiting. The existing one is over 9 months old and its’ core theme is The War for Talent. I tweeted the need for this content and within five minutes six people had contacted me saying they could help or in one case @theredrecruiter sent me his paper. Imagine the power of your network. Ultimately I see twitter as a tool to connect, share my knowledge and experiences and hopefully learn from my ‘friends’.

The proliferation of social networking tools arguably brings a level of connectedness and insight we’ve not had in the world before. Across all the tools you use, what have you have found as the most effective combination for keeping in touch and how big a part does twitter play?